RALEIGH – Across the technology sectors, job growth has been rapid and resilient during the decade between 2010 and 2020, a new report from the Brookings Institute finds.  But the onset of the global pandemic may have changed the trajectory of the technology sector from concentrating in the so-called “gateway” cities of the United States to a more distributed workforce across a wider geography.

“The pandemic years seem to be distributing somewhat more tech activity into a wider set of places,” the report reads.  “The data in this report shows that employment growth slowed in some of the biggest tech “superstars” and increased in other midsized and smaller markets, including smaller quality-of-life meccas and college towns.”

Report: North Carolina technology job openings reach new high

North Carolina MSAs

According to the data set, the Raleigh-Cary metropolitan statistical area (MSA) saw a 4.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in technology sector employment between 2015 and 2019, and experienced a 0.4% growth rate in 2019 and 2020.

While Charlotte’s CAGR was 1.1% between 2015 and 2019, the region accelerated technology roles in 2019 and 2020, with a growth rate of 3.4%, the analysis revealed.

That trend is even more pronounced in the Durham-Chapel Hill MSA, where technology sector employment saw a 2.1% compound annual growth rate in the period between 2015 and 2019, and a 5.2% growth rate in 2019 and 2020, according to the data set.

But, according to the analysis, the region of North Carolina that saw the highest growth rate in both periods was Wilmington, N.C., with a CAGR of 20.0% between 2015 and 2019 and a growth rate of 11.5% in 2019 and 2020.

Help still wanted: Hunt for IT talent is hot at a wide range of Triangle firms

The most recent NC TECH IT Jobs Report found that across North Carolina, technology sector job openings reached a new high.  Employers across the Triangle and across the state continue to seek high-tech talent.

Across the entire United States, the Brookings Institute report found that the entire technology sector added more than 1.2 million jobs in the 2010s, with an overall compound annual growth rate of 4.4%, nearly triple the growth of the economy as a whole during that time, according to the report.